Method of and apparatus for perforating gypsum lath or the like



- May 5, 1942.

ICE.

L." N. SORENSEN METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR' PERFORATING GYPSUM LATH OR THE LIKE Filed June 8, 1959 4 Sheet s-Sheet l Enventor Lou/s N 50/22/7591? (I ttorneg May 5, 1942. L. N. SORENYSEN METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING GYPSUM LATH OR THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 8, 1939 N M I IMH Ennentor Lou/s N Sore/2 59m (Ittorn'eg y 5, 1-942- L. N. SORENSEN 2,282,259

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING GYPSUM 'LATH OR THE LIKE Filed June a, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet S Q E; q

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vqmjnm Patented May 5, 1942 OFFICE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PERFO- RATING GYPSUM- Louis N. Sorensen, Port Clinton, to The Celotex Corporation, corporation of Delaware LATE OR THE LIKE Ohio, assignor Chicago, 111., a

Application June 8, i939, Serhl No. 278,212

(Cl. MIL-89) Claiml.

This invention relates to the method of and apparatus for perforating gypsum lath or the like in the ordinary course of manufacture, so that when the finished lath are delivered'from the last or drying operations no further operation is needed before the lath is ready for use.

Heretofore the perforating operation has generally taken place after the lath have come through the dryer and have been bundled prior .to shipment; the operation has been done by means of gang drills whichleave considerable.

dust in the packaged lath. I

An object of this invention is to provide a perforated gypsum lath which is free from dust; this is highly desirable as the-dust falls into the mechanics eyes applying the lath; this particularly is true when'the lath are being applied to ceiling joists.

Another object of this invention is to provide a means whereby the lath to be perforated is moved forward at intervals or steps to permit theperforating operation while the lath is at rest in the machine during the periods between the forward steps.

Still another object is to provide a means whereby the plugs cut from the lath, may be removed after the perforation is completed.

These and other objects may be seen and noted from the following specifications and its accompanying illustrations, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device and the carrier or conveyor upon which the lath moves.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the perforator partly cut away.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the perforating device, partly in section, the cutting position of the knives being indicated by the dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but with the knives in the retracted position and the slide in the forward position removing the plugs.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing one of the knives as the perforation is completed and the plug thrust within the throat of the knife.

bars II are secured on the chain II at intervals end of the lath to insure .the synchronizing of the and lugs M are secured on a chain Ila. at intervals of one foot or any desired spacing.

A chain II drives sprockets l6 and I! to which are secured pivoting crank arms I 8 and I! respectively, said crank arms being secured eccentrically upon the sprockets I 6 and H which are secured within a frame 20 on a bearing mount A driven sprocket 22 is secured on a shaft 23 which is driven by means of a chain and clutch (not shown) from the main board machine drive. The chain II is mounted on the sprocket 22.

A wheel 25 is rigidly secured to the outer end of the shaft 23 and has a short crank arm 26 eccentrically secured tothe face thereof on a pivot pin 21, and said arm 26 has a plate 28 secured thereon at its opposite end and a notch 29 therein, thus as the sprocket 22 and wheel 25 revolve with the shaft 23, the short crank arm 28 moves in an eccentric manner against the face of the wheel 25, pivoting an the pin 21, and the free end of the arm on which the notched plate 28 is secured moves back toward the frame 20 until the revolution of the wheel causes said am to again slide forward whereupon the notch 2! therein engages a lug l4 and moves the chain Illa forward approximately one foot.

The chain Ila drives a sprocket A which in turn drives a chain lllb which engages the sprocket B causing the chain It to move forward in steps of one foot or any other predetermined distance. Lath are delivered by means of a driven rolls l2a to the idler rolls I2 where they are engaged by the bars l3one of which is at each its even travel through the perforator.

As the rotation of the wheel 25 continues the notched end of the arm 26 moves away from the lug l4 and the motion of the chains Ill, Ila, and lib ceases until the operation is repeated. This causes an intermittent movement of the lath 20' as it travels through, the perforating machine: retraction of the short upward thrust of the causes the perforation interval when the chain through the perforator, is

crank arm 28 with the crank wheels I and ll of the lath during that ll carrylngthe lath 30 not moving forward. The long crank rods II and I! are pivotally attached at the top thereof to a plate ll through bearings 32. Rollers 33 mounted on bars 34 move up and down on the frame 20 and keep'the perforating machine in a vertical plane.

Rods 38 mounted on the plate 3| through sleeves it serve to keep the plate in alignment through bearing sleeves 36 Secured rigidly to the plate 3| through sleeves 42 are circular perforating knives 43, and .said knives are fastened to the plate 3| by means of a bolt 1| and lock'nuts 12. The bolt 1| passes through the plate to which the knife is welded, and engages in the bottom of the knife plate 3|. The circular knives slide up and down on, stationary rods 44 secured to a fixed plate 45 secured to the frame 28. g

The die plate 31 has apertures 46 therethrough directly .above the knives 43 and registering therewith. Plugs 41 extend into the apertures 46 and are held in place by means of a plate '49 to which they are fastened by means of lock nuts 48. Bolts 58 secured through the plate 49 are screwed into the die plate 31 and are retained by lock nuts as shown in Fig. 4 to secure'the plugs 41 in a set position within the aperture 46.-

The apertures 46 are of such diameter as will allow the circular perforating knives 43 to project therein, whereas the plugs 41 are small enough to fit within the throat of the knives 43.

Thus as the knives 43 pass through the gypsum lath38, the circular plug or cutting 5| out therefrom is thrust downward into the throat of the knife 43 by the downwardly projecting end of the plug 41 as the knife enters the aperture 46.

This results in a clean uniform cut with the edges of the hole being smoothed by the troweling action of the knives 43 passing through them.

On the downward stroke of theperforatin mechanism, the rods 44 thrusting upward through the knives 43 as the said knives move downward, push the circular plugs 5| out of the throat of the knives 43.

As the perforating assembly moves downward an extension arm 52, which is slotted at 53 to encircle a rod 54, strikes a nut 55 secured on the ward, the crossbars 68 brushing the circular plugs 5| from the rods 44.

When the pressure is released on the nut 55, by the perforating mechanism again moving upward, the weight 60 pulls the rod 69 downward to counterbalance the balancing lever 56 and the slide 66 moves back to its original position with the cross bars out of the path of the knives 43.

Rails 69 secured to the frame 26 by any suitable means such as an angular plate 69a, as

shown in Fig. 3, apertures 69b being provided therein to allow the passage of the knives 43 therethrough support the lath 38 in the perforator.

The operation is evident from the above des'cription but may be briefly stated as follows:

The laths or pieces of plaster board are ad-* vanced step by step through the perforating machine. When the feed is stopped the sliding plate3l, operated by the connecting rods l8 and I9 slides up carrying with it the tubular knives 43 which cut the disks 5| from the lath, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the plugs 41 acting to force the cuttingsv into the bore of the'knivesv or cutters. When the plate 3| descends the-cutters are re-- tracted and the fixed rods 44 eject the pieces 5| from the knives as shown in Fig. 6, and tien by the lever mechanism the frame 66 is shifted laterally and .its bars 68 dislodge the pieces from end of said rod, which is a part of a lever operating mechanism.

The rod 54 is movably secured to one end of the balancing lever 56 suspended on a pivot post or bearing 51 mounted on a plate 58 and suspended within the frame,2 0 and secured th reto by any suitable means.

Movably secured to the opposite end of the angular lever 6| is secured on a pivot pin 62 l The slide 66 is slidably secured through split guides 61 secured to the die plate 31 and projecting downwardly therefrom, and cross bars 68 are secured between the side bars of the slide 66; thus as the extension arm 52 strikes the nut 55 on the rod 54, the balancing lever 56 dips 'downward at that end, causing the rod 59 to move upward vertically, this draws the pivoting angular lever 6| upward, the angular leg 6|a projecting within the aperture in the slide-66 is thus thrust forward to a vertical position as shown in Fig. 4 and the slide is thus drawn forbalancing lever 56 is a second rod 59, to the lower end. of which is secured a weight 68. A pivoting the top of the rods 44, as indicated in Fig. 4.

The operation is then repeated for the next rows of perforations, and so on indefinitely.

The preferred method which I prefer to use in forming my novel perforated lath wherein the perforations are troweled smooth is to first form the l'ath on the lath forming machine as at C. The lath after it has been formed is allowed to set as it travels on the conveyor l2a. The conveyor |2a is of such length that the time it takes for the lath to travel from the lath forming machine to the lath perforating machine, the lath has had time to partiallyset the cementitious material forming the inner lamination of the lath. Where a plurality of rows of lath are simultaneously formed-on the lath forming machine, it is permissible to allow some of the lath which are not to be perforated to pass on directly intothe drier D, while the lath which are to be perforated are shunted to one side of the main conveyor |2a to pass through the lath perforating machine. The shunted conveyor system to the lath perforating machine also permits the lath to set harder so that a better finished perforation is had. The continuous movement of the lath on the conveyor or shunted conveyor |2a is then transformed to an intermittent motion by the conveyor Ill of the lath perforating machine.

The lath or plaster board is advanced step-by- I step through the perforating machine. As the lath is advanced, the lath is then perforated during the period when the intermittently actuated After the lath.

conveyor I6 is standing still. leave the perforating machine, they are transferred from the intermittently actuated conveyor l0 to the continuously moving conveyor I211. The

which are illustrated in the accompanying drawlugs and that the special details and methods of forming the lath herein set forth may be varied to suit particular purposes without departing from the scope of invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet perforating machine, the combination of a die plate having recesses therein, a set of tubular cutters reciprocating into andout of said recesses to cut pieces from a sheet, a set of plugs projecting into the recesses in the die plate and adapted to forcethe pieces into the cutters, means for ejecting the pieces from the cutters on the retraction of the latter, and said means comprising rods extending within the cutters I 2-. In a sheet perforating machine, the combination of a die plate having recesses therein and being fixed above the sheet to be perforated, a

- set of tubular cutters reciprocating into and out of said recesses arid working up and down below the sheets to be perforated to cut pieces from a sheet, a set of plugs projecting into the recesses in the die plate and adapted to force the pieces into the cutters, and means for ejecting the pieces from the cutters on the retraction of the latter.

3. In a, machine of the kind described, the combination of a die plate having a recess therein, a plug projecting into said recess, a tubular cutter reciprocating into and out of said recess around the plug, whereby the plug will force a cuttinginto the throat of the cutter on the advance stroke of the latter, and means for dislodging the cutting from the cutter on the retraction of the latter.

4. In a machine of the hind described, the combination of a die plate havinga recess therein, a

plug projecting into said recess, a tubular cutter reciprocating into and out of said recess around the plug, whereby the plug will forces, cutting into the throat of the cutter on the advance stroke of the latter, means for dislodging the cutting from the cutter on the retraction of the latter, and said means including a relatively fixed rod extending lengthwise through the cutter.

5. In a sheet perforating machine, the combination of a fixed die plate having a set of holes therein, a set of fixed plugs supported on one side of the die plate and projecting into said holes, a set of reciprocating tubular cutters at the other side of said die plates and movable intothe holes around said plugs, whereby cuttings from a sheet will be forced into the cutters by the plugs, and a set of fixed rods extending through the cutters and acting to eject the cut tings therefrom when the cutters are retracted,

, 6. In a sheet perforating machine, the com -bination ofa fixed die plate having a set ofholes therein, a set of fixed plugs supported on one side of the die plate and projecting into said holes, a set of reciprocating tubular cutters at the other side of said die plate and movable into the holes around said plugs, whereby cuttings from a sheet will be forced into the cutters by the plugs, a set 01 fixed rods extending through the cutters and acting to eject the cuttings therefrom when the cutters are retracted, and means for dislodging the cuttings from the ends of the rods after the cuttings are ejected from the cutters.

7. In a sheet perforating machine, the combination of a fixed die plate having a set of holes therein, a set of fixed plugs supported on one side of the die plate and projecting into said holes, a set of reciprocating tubular cutters at the other side of said die plate and movable into the holes around said plugs, whereby cuttings from a sheet will be forced into the cutters by the plugs, .a set of fixed rods extending through the cutters and acting to eject the cuttings therefrom when the cutters are retracted, and a frame provided with cross bars reciprocating transversely across the ends of the rods to dislodge the cuttings therea from after they are ejected from the cutters.

8. In a machine for perforating sheets, the combination with a step-by-step conveyor on which sheets are carried, of a frame standing beside the conveyor, a die plate supported by the frame above the conveyor, and a reciprocating plate working in the frame below the conveyor and provided with a set of cutters cooperating /with the die plate to cut holes in the sheets.

9. In a sheet perforating machine, the combination of a die plate having recesses therein, operatively mounted to one side of the die plate a set oi tubular cutters reciprocating into and out of said recesses to cut pieces from a sheet, operatively mounted to the other side of the die plate a set of plugs projecting into the recesses in the die plate and adapted to force the cut I conveyed by the etep-hy step conveyor and fixedly mounted means within the cutters to upon the return stroke of the cutters eject the pieces from within the cutters, and means for synchronizingthe movement of the step hy step conveyor with the movent of the n actuated conveyor.

1318 N. SORENSEN; 

